bloggie

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Arleigh Burke knew the stakes in Cuba at the time. And he came damn near a mutiny. He wouldn't let up.
"Two planes, Mr. President," he pleaded with JFK, fighting to keep his composure. "That's all they need."
"Burke!" replied Kennedy. "We can't become involved in this."
The fighting admiral almost lost it. "Hell, Mr. President!" he barked, inches from the young president's face. "We ARE involved!"

Thanks for posting this, RIP Ford. How we let those Cubans down was horrible.

Kennedy's decision not to engage angered many of the Navy trainers who worked with the Brigade before the battle. Four of the trainers decided to go anyway

True leadership requires you not ask anyone to go where you would not, and if in peril, you go with them if at all possible. Only 4 men understood that dictum. It would have been impossible to do so for Burke.

All other theories of directing men and women, especially at war, are bullshit.

As for "speaking out", active Generals who do that are usually sacked almost immediately, as was McArthur under Truman (I think McArthur was wrong on his points, however great his past), as was Singlaub under Carter (I think Singlaub was right with his ideas), both in Korea. Very few resign to gain that immediate priveldge are noble. The ones yapping today are not the same, they were retired long before they opened their mouths. And none so far approach McArthur or Singlaub in combat experience.

The problem with McArthur was that he did not shut up when told to do so. I think, in hindsight, that what he proposed was probably the right thing to do. While I like Truman, the way we went about things in Korea brought about 50+ years of "non-wars" -- which don't solve anything.

That being said, I think Truman had no choice but to fire McArthur. McArthur was insubordinate.

Why he divided his Army and how his intelligence missed the Chinese incursion down the mountian spine of Korea is mystifying, as if the Uijombu Corridor (sic?) was the only possible southern re-invasion route. Tactics 101, secure the heights.

Russia had an ax to grind, but not China initially. Historically, China gets nervous whenever "border wars" draw close to her, effectively nullifying the Suzerainty of the bordering state. China likes her border states in her pocket wholly, or at least demonstrably neutral, as buffers against invasion. They did not build that huge wall centuries ago out of a cultural mindset of conquest. China kept far more military resources arrayed along the border with the Soviet Union than anywhere else. Taewon is perpetually at risk for this very reason, they do not like a launching platform on their immediate coast.

China is also likely to take objection to a re-militarization of Japan for a similar reason. It doesn't matter about today's air and sea capabilities, on land, China is world behemoth. She can send a quarter billion men at you, lose them all, and replace them promptly, but she'd prefer not to bother if she can maintain buffers. Her ventures in to space and rocketry today are part of maintaining a sense of buffer.